Flying Warship
by Hiccup's Flower
Summary: Harry finds a floating warship. And then some... MIGHT add third crossover to the mix.
1. Chapter 1

"Wait, so you're saying that they're called Death Eaters?"

Harry Potter sighed. What had he gotten himself into? Earlier, he had run into a flying warship, while taking practice runs on his Firebolt.

It had appeared out of nowhere, and Harry had nearly crashed into the figurehead, which had then turned and clacked at him reproachfully. Harry nearly freaked out then, because it was a _dragon_ and only a _head_ and it was _alive_! It had grabbed the back of his new t-shirt and tossed him onboard, searing the back of his shirt in the process. Harry's Firebolt had fallen out of sight, but he could always summon it later, so that wasn't a problem.

The problem was the kid running on board, running up, waving a glowing bronze sword threateningly. He was shouting in what was obviously a dead language, maybe Greek. Behind him were three other kids, a blonde dude with a gold sword that sometimes looked like a javelin, an impish Latino boy that Harry would never trust to hold his wand, and a girl with choppy brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes. The girl was holding nothing, but Harry got the impression that she was equally dangerous.

Harry pulled out his wand, and held it out defensively. The lead boy snorted. He asked something in that language, but Harry just re-brandished his wand.

"Oh. English?" The boy said. Harry nodded. "Oh. Well, I'm Percy Jackson, and I would like to know what you're doing on our ship."

"_Muffliato!_" Harry shot the silencing spell at the door that the mystery people had just come out of, and then sat on the floor.

"Seriously?" Percy asked. "Hades, Piper, we're dealing with a lunatic." The boy had an American accent.

"I'm not a lunatic." Harry said.

"Explain the stick." The blonde boy said.

"Explain the ship." Harry challenged back.

Percy waved his hand at Harry, snapped his fingers, and said "Tell us what you know."

It had no effect on Harry, but it clearly was supposed to, so Harry decided to play along. "When you die your hair still grows for a couple of months, the king of hearts is the only king without a moustache, St. Stephen is the patron saint of bricklayers, Mary Stuart became Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old, Charlie Brown's father was a barber, a lion's roar can be heard from five miles away, in ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose, the word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo." , I can go on, if you like. I know quite a lot…"

Percy only slapped his forehead.

Blondie nodded. "It's true! The Rome thing anyway…"

"Prove you're not a lunatic." Percy said.

"Like… how?" Harry asked. It was fun messing with the boy; he got wound up so quickly. "Well, you're most likely Muggles, you don't know who I am, but you're in a flying ship… Oh Merlin, are you Americans? Well, that explains a lot."

Percy looked offended at the Muggles comment.

"Excuse me!"

"You're excused. _Alarte_ _Ascendare_!"

Percy shot into the air, giving a shout of surprise. His sword dropped on the floor, and vanished. He dangled upside down by his ankle, all of the blood rushing to his face.

"Get…me…down!" he managed to yell. Harry laughed at their attempts, until the blonde flew up to him and forcefully pulled him down. As soon as Percy was out of range of the spell, he fell with surprising gravity.

The Latino imp ran up to him and shook his hand furiously. "I've wanted to do that to Percy for ages! I'm Leo Valdez, that's Piper McLean, and Jason Grace, the flying wonder."

"Harry Potter. Oh, I've forgotten something… _Accio Firebolt!_" The broom in question came zooming up from behind the ship and almost smacked Leo on his arm on the way to Harry. Harry tucked his wand away, now that everyone was crowding him.

"So, I've got a question. Are you or are you not Muggles?"

"We're… demigods. Does that answer you?"

Harry practically kissed their shoes before he remembered his dignity. Hermione had been ranting for days on end about these magical people who didn't need wands to channel their magic, but specialized in one type of magic only. They called themselves half-bloods, or demigods, sons and daughters of gods. She had absolutely loved the idea of singular wandless magic, and had not stopped talking about it. She loved them. It had rubbed off on Harry.

Suddenly, a cold feeling settled around the ship. Wind started blowing, whipping Harry's glasses off his head, before his Seeker reflexes caught them.

"I thought you made them go away!" Percy shouted at Piper. Harry was impressed. Making Dementors go away was tricky, and permanently was practically impossible.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Harry shouted, to save them the trouble. The usual majestic deer burst out of the tip, and ran around the bottom of the ship for a while, before coming back to Harry and vanishing. The temperature shot back up to its normal, and the winds slowed.

All of these demigod teens were gaping at Harry. They must never have encountered a wizard before. Just wait until they meet Hermione she would be fawning over them, and probably asking for autographs.

"Alright, tell us everything." Jason said.

Which is how they got to where they were now, with Percy and Leo rolling on the floor laughing, Piper and Jason just exchanging exasperated glances.

"Okay, okay," Leo said after regaining his breath. "What does Thanatos even taste like?"

This set them off laughing all over again. Harry sighed. Eventually Percy straightened, and dragged Leo up with him.

"Do I get to laugh at your centaurs being like drunkards now?" Harry asked.

"Dude, they _are_ drunkards."

"Harry!" the voice was very faint, and only the wind carrying it to him made it audible at all. It was Ron's voice, and he was probably searching on his broom.

"Hi-"

"-Harry!"

Fred and George's twin faces popped over the side of the airship. They were a lot closer that Ron was. Everyone jumped.

"Come on, mum's-"

"Waiting for you. You-"

"Had better get back, or she-"

"Will be madder than that giant squid."

The twins dropped over the side, and Harry leapt on his Firebolt and zoomed away.

"Oh!" Piper exclaimed.

"What?" Jason asked.

"I forgot to make him forget."

Percy and Leo fell down once again.

"What's taking so long up here?" Frank asked. "Hazel's getting sick again, and we can't hear anything down there."

Percy looked at Leo and said, "Muffliato!" in dawning realization.

"Now, how are we going to find him?" Jason asked.

Percy just sighed. "Either the spell wears off, we meet him again, or it's permanent."


	2. Chapter 2

_Several months have passed…._

Several months have passed since the lunatic landed on our ship. We still haven't undone that curse on the door, so midnight sneak attacks have become more of a possibility.

We- me and Annabeth- have just gotten out of the depths of Tartarus. Man, that place is awful. And it smelled worse than a hellhound's behind. Through some of that, my thoughts have been plagued with Harry. He clearly holds some influence in the world he lives in, probably a celebrity. You could see it in the way he brightened when we didn't recognize his name. In his world, being a celebrity must have been a burden. I'm not quite popular with the monsters, either. Do you know how many times I have had the word "die" directed at me?

But there was one thing that set him aside, that made him really stand out. His eyes. Yes, they were emerald green, startlingly so, but it's not the color. His eyes are haunted, like he's seen too many things, lived too many horrors.

I could relate, but probably not to the magnitude of his. And if there's one thing I hate, it's my curiosity. I wanted to find him, to know the whole story. He had only explained the basics of his world, and I had been a few smiles short of friendly.

I guessed that the best course of action would be Leo. He could use all of his freaky technology-Hephaestus powers and locate him like that.

I ran down to the engine room, where Leo spends practically all his time.

"Horse bro! Wassup?" the engine asked me. Or rather, the boy behind the engine.

I raised an eyebrow. "Horse bro?"

"No?" He asked. "What about Brony? Mighty Slayer of Porphyrion the Giant King? Horse Whisperer?"

"No."

He pouted, but brightened up when he realized I had not come for nicknames. "So, what can I get you, oh Mighty Slayer of Porphyrion the Giant King?"

"Cut that out, Mr. Head-Full-of-Hot-Air. I need to find that Harry boy."

"And whyyyyyy is that?" He asked coyly. I wanted to strangle him more than I did Octavian.

"Not for the reason you think, it's actually important."

"Tell me the reason and I'll find you the boy."

Oh My GODS this kid was infuriating! It's not like I was trying to be stalkerish or anything like that anyways!

"So I can ask him about his spells and levitate you two hundred feet in the air!" I cried. The only thing stopping me from strangling him was the prospect of seeing Harry. He was cool. And his hair was messier than mine, which for once was a relief.

"Okay, Gru, now what's your real reason?" He asked, smirking.

"_Why _is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

"Because I want to remember what you say, _right now_." He held up a small homemade recorder that had probably been lounging in his pockets for a month.

"Fine! Because I want to know more about him…"

Leo hooted. "Percy wants to learn! Oh, this is too good to pass up!"

Nevertheless, he got down to business mode.

"Alright, alright, cool your britches." This coming from the kid who could set himself on _fire_ at will. "We met him while hovering somewhere over England. I can probably narrow it down some if I just…" I zoned out after he started speaking. Honestly, when that kid talked about technology, he was almost as bad as Annabeth.

I tuned back in to the last part of his hour-long rant. "With the tracker I stuck on him."

"You what?" I yelled. Those trackers were soooooo irritating. They let out a supersonic pitch that even dogs couldn't hear, but hear them or not, they left nasty headaches. Aaannnddd another of Commander Toolbelt's ingenious inventions.

"You know what? Whatever. I'm going to go play with water." I stuck my tongue out at him childishly as a last chance of revenge, and then marched away. The whole time he had been talking, the ship had been steered to a giant forest in the middle of England.

Wild pegasi had attacked last night, and they had broken up the main deck with their frantic trampling. We had stopped at the forest with a medieval-like castle on the other side, and a lake, for new materials, and I figured that the lake would be a nice chance to get away from it all.

I stepped in, fully clothed, and let the sensation of water surround me. At least no one would be able to find me here….

Except for a few mermaid-like people. I figured I might as well talk to some to learn where we were. They might help us learn where we were.

"Excuse me!" I waved to catch one's attention.

They stared at me for a few minutes, then a small one swam over.

"Is it natural?" It had a rasping voice, but for living underwater, it sounded pretty good.

"Is what natural?" Maybe it was a habit, but all of the merpeople I had met previously tended to be confusing.

"Of course, it is a child of the sea!" A larger one with a more feminine voice berated the small one, then smiled at me.

"Would you like to stay with us a while?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, my friends are waiting. Can you tell me where this is?" I asked. What? They were.

She nodded. "This is the lake next to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

I thanked her and left. She seemed like a nice person, but she was obviously loopy. Witchcraft and Wizardry? Pfft, naw.

I resurfaced next to the Argo II, and sought out Leo. "Where are we?" I asked. "I met some merpeople, and they said that the giant castle and all the property with it was Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Leo grinned a very Leo grin. "Well, the only way to find out is to go! Let's grab Beauty Queen, and Jason, and let's roll on out!"

I seriously doubted that this could end well. Leo didn't seem to care, I bet he just wanted to explore this place.

I swam back across the lake, and Jason flew Leo and Piper one at a time to the edge of the forest, where I was resurfacing. As soon as we were all together again, we began marching up to the castle. Once a monster jumped out of the trees.

Jason fried it without a second thought, and we marched on. It kind of amazed me how strong he- we had all- gotten. We all were so different from the people who built the ship, who were the Praetors of New Rome, who had fixed a bronze dragon with a leaky ear, who had swam in the Styx. We were now curious Heroes of Olympus, who were probably walking into a trap.

"Ladies and Germs, we have arrived." Leo said with a flourish, gesturing at two grand doors, probably taller than the Argo II was long.

Piper tentatively poked one of the doors, and it creaked open. We walked a few steps in, and suddenly, somewhere deep inside this castle, a bell rang. Strangely dressed people flooded out of hidden doors, and looked at us for a moment, before wandering off. Piper grabbed a girl by the shoulders, and charmspeaked her. All the girl told us was that if we needed to talk to someone, go see 'Professor Dumbledore.'

We wandered around for a while, stopping at a huge stone gargoyle to catch our bearings.

"Okay, I'm lost," Leo said. "And I'm so hungry that I would kill for even a single lemon drop."

All of a sudden, a harsh grinding noise was heard, and the gargoyle sprang back, revealing a set of stone steps. We climbed them, seeing no other option, and no other way to go that we hadn't gone before.

At the top was a spacious office, with framed portraits. Piper gasped, and shrieked. The paintings were moving! A laugh sounded around the office.

"Well, you certainly aren't wizards."


	3. Chapter 3

Percy whirled around and nearly beheaded the old man that had appeared behind them. He certainly wasn't in the room when they had entered.

Besides him, Leo's fingers were twitching, and he was spinning around and looking at all the odd machines lining the shelves.

Jason stepped forwards. "Who are you?" he asked, with (hopefully) a relatively non-_I-will-smite-thee_ look on his face.

The old man chuckled, electric blue eyes that looked suspiciously like Jason's twinkling under half-moon glasses.

"Dumbledore." He said. "Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

Leo whistled. "Dude, you have one really long name. And that's even longer than Mr. Mighty Slayer of Porphyrion the Giant King, Perseus Jackson, and Prince of the Sky, Son of the Lord of the Universe, Lightning Man, the Eagle That Soars, Our Local Resident Hero, Jason Grace. And what's a Mugwump?"

Dumbledore shook his hand. "Never mind all that, please. What are you doing here?"

Percy said "I spoke with some mermaids in the lake." At that same time, Piper said, "Is there a Harry Potter at this school?"

Dumbledore laughed. "Mermaids, eh? Send Murcus my greetings. And yes, Harry Potter is in his fifth year here. Are you here to protect him? Are you- never mind, you're obviously not wizards. Descendants of gods, perhaps?"

Piper nodded. "Greek. Well, Greek, and Roman."

Leo caught on fire.

Dumbledore stood up. "Well, you're in luck. The Great Feast is tonight. I'll announce you, and you'll all be put in proper houses. Gryffindors-to-be, you must guard and watch over Harry. Are there any more of you, perchance?"

"I'll go get them, and explain everything." Piper ran off.

"I need to leave to be ready for the feast. Older years are still wandering the castle getting ready, so I suggest you stay here and wait until I send someone to get you." Dumbledore left the room.

Percy looked sharply at Leo. "Don't touch anything not yours, and pick up after yourself."

.:l-*-l:.

About an hour later, a stern looking woman with her hair pulled up into a tight bun came in, glancing around distastefully. Leo hastily shoved his latest random mechanical bulldozer-driving windup toy into his tool belt.

Piper came bursting into the room out of breath, followed by Annabeth, Nico, Hazel, and Frank.

The woman nodded once, then turned and marched out at a brisk pace that could have put Medea to shame.

They reached yes another set of double doors. A tremendous clapping could be heard from inside, with an occasional cheer. Suddenly the clapping stopped, and a distorted old man's voice could be heard from within. Eventually, the voice stopped, and the stern-faced woman pushed open the doors with a flick of her- was that a wand?

She marched in, and the Heroes of Olympus reluctantly followed. Even Leo couldn't process what he was seeing fast enough. There were four rows of tables, with masses of kids seated at each one. Most of them were staring.

Leo stuck a hand in his pocket and pressed a button discreetly. All of the floating candles exploded into beautiful pink fireworks (one said Go Team Leo!), and the people at the tabled appeared stunned, then laughed. All of the demigods glared at Leo, and Piper patted his head, because his hair started to smoke.

Dumbledore rose. "My fellow Hogwartians," He said. "We have some very esteemed guests with us tonight. They will remain with us throughout this year, and be watching over a select few. If anyone notices," Dumbledore glanced at a parchment. "A giant bronze warship with the figurehead of a dragon, please do not attack. That is their mode of travel, and they would thank you very much not to destroy it. I will let them introduce themselves, their accomplishments, and other _necessary information._"

He sat down again. Percy felt very self-conscious about standing in front of that many people, but decided he should go first.

"I am… _Percy_ Jackson, and I defeated a minotaur, returned a stolen artifact, saw my best friend in a wedding dress, almost got eaten by a hydra, adopted a Cyclops, defeated Polyphemus, saved my camp several times, held up the world, found Nico, crushed the labyrinth, fought in a war, got offered immortality, got abducted and my memories stolen, met some romans, talked to a very cussy horse, attacked some Amazons, defeated Polybotes, became Praetor of New Rome, helped rescue the Athena Parthenon, plunged into Tartarus, crushed a giant evil spider-lady with a baby blue Italian car, _survived _in Tartarus, released the doors of death, defeated all the giants with the help of these people, and literally helped put the world to sleep. We were on our way home when we came here, and I talked to some mermaids."

Percy bowed and grinned. "Son of _Poseidon_, at your service."

To demonstrate his excellent point, Percy summoned a globe of water the size of a beach ball from everybody's water glasses and started playing with it. Everyone else's speeches were pretty much the same length. Piper charmspeaked two kids into tap dancing on the tables, Hazel summoned all of the girls' jewelry, Leo caught his whole body on fire, Frank shape-shifted, Nico shadow-traveled, Annabeth outsmarted almost all of the Ravenclaws, and Jason started a mini-hurricane in the Great Hall. Needless to say, no one doubted them, and quite a few girls had crushes.

"Yes, yes." Dumbledore said. "I will be sorting them all, even though they are clearly not first-years. Those that are in Gryffindor know what they need to be doing."

Percy, Leo, and Jason got put in Gryffindor. A few Gryffindor girls fainted. Piper and Nico got Slytherin, Annabeth got Ravenclaw, and Frank and Hazel got put in Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore raised his arms. "Let the feast begin!"

Crowded around Harry were the new demigods, and Harry (a bit late) realized that these were the people from the ship. Then he noticed their eating habits.

They -each- ate more than Hagrid! Where did they put it all? Were they robots? But then, they wouldn't be able to have those magic powers. How did that even work, magic without wands? How did they channel their magic? Did they ever run out of power? What if-

Percy's voice pulled Harry from his thoughts. "Sho, o oo af fegshy?" Harry couldn't understand one word of that sentence. It made sense, because Percy's mouth literally couldn't shut, and Harry could see the- was that blue pie?- inside. Ron clearly did, because he shook his head.

"No, but we have hippogriffs."

"How-" Harry asked. Ron interrupted him.

"I talk with my mouth full all the time."

The prefects rose up, and everybody followed. Percy, Leo, and Jason followed Harry up to the dorm, where someone had shoved a strange triple decker bunk bed.

"I claim…."Percy and Jason groaned, and Harry was confused.

"TOP BUNK!" Leo finished. He scrambled up the ladder remarkably fast for a kid that scrawny, and sat proudly on top.

"If any of your 'projects' fall on _anybody_ during the night, Nyx help me I will sacrifice you at our next camp dinner." Percy warned, before claiming the middle. "Also, shouldn't the boy who can _fly_ be on the top bunk so nobody gets injured?"

This flying was a new development for Harry. How many more hidden powers did these demigods have? Leo adamantly shook his head.

Ron's head hit the pillow and he fell asleep, but Harry stayed up long after everyone else. Well, maybe not everyone.

Whistling, steaming, and clanking could be heard long into the night, drowning out the tossing and turning of the strange new people.


	4. Not Actually A Chapter

NOT A CHAPTER!

Does anyone want an oc added to this fic? Pm me. It can be a demigod or a wizard, or a Muggle or anything. Please! And by the way, I just want to thank everybody who reviewed this story. Keep up the great work! I can also take suggestions for story lines or plot parts. This story is supposed to be after BoO, and during PoA. All suggestions will be at least considered. Help me make this story interesting!

Thank You!


	5. Chapter 5

When Harry woke the next morning, everyone was still asleep, and the sky was dark. And the demigods were already finishing up tying their shoelaces.

Yawn. "What are yo- you doin' up sooo early?"

Percy grinned. "Early? Dude, it's five a.m. What is everyone doing still asleep?"

Harry sat up and put his glasses on, from where he had left them on his nightstand. Percy's messy hair was the first thing to come into focus. Then the fact that the room was very highly charged with static and damp hit him. And the fact that bronze was scattered everywhere. Leo was hastily trying to pick the pieces up before anyone noticed them.

"What happened in here? Scabbers bit me. Why is his mangy fur standing on end?"

"It was just a bit of midnight sparring." Jason said, shifting uneasily. Ron nodded and fell back asleep, it being five in the morning. Harry could see straight through the lie, but since nightmares frequented him often enough, he wouldn't ask.

Harry got dressed, slowly, since he was still half asleep.

He took his glasses off again to put on his shirt and the room suddenly became bathed in a strange blue light he put his glasses on again to get a better glance, but it faded away.

The demigods were muttering with themselves.

"Is he a legacy?"

"My dad wouldn't have broken his vow, then."

"Maybe he isn't, I mean, he broke the Oath with you…"

"But, he's never done anything that-"

"That's just gonna have to wait a while…. They've got time, for messin' around, but it's not my style!"

"LEO!"

"What?"

"Might as well get an early breakfast. I hope they have something blue. Want to come with?" Percy addressed Harry.

"Can it wait?"

"Three hours."

And in three hours, after several games of wizard chess, Harry finally felt hungry.

"Let's go." He said.

"Great!" Leo said. He hooked his elbow with Harry's and forcibly dragged him out after Percy and Jason left. "Lead the way, magic man."

The Great Hall was an utter disaster, however. Draco jeered at Harry.

"Potty, what are you doing with those bodyguards? Scared?" Draco asked, putting on a baby voice and sucking his thumb. All of the Slytherins laughed at his antics.

Beside him, Harry could feel Leo start to steam. Percy extended his arm out to Draco like he was asking for a gift, and snapped his fingers. Harry was going to tell him that that wouldn't work, whatever he was trying to do, but Draco sat straighter in his seat.

When Percy next spoke, his voice sounded like it had many layers to it. "Leave Harry and all the demigods alone, or you will regret it. Also, you have no recollection of any of the demigods' powers."

Draco nodded with glazed over eyes. Percy let his arm drop, and Draco collapsed. The hall was silent, and everybody was looking at Percy. Percy shouted across the hall to a blonde Ravenclaw.

"Hey Annie! Guess who finally taught me the Mist trick!"

The Ravenclaw laughed and shouted back, "Was it the Stolls? Explains why you're still bad at it. THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO COLLAPSE!"

Percy sighed and slumped over. Leo's t-shirt caught on fire; he was trying so hard not to laugh. Wait, t-shirt… why was Percy wearing long-sleeves? It was the middle of summer, for crying out loud! Jason, the baby-faced Chinese man, and the metal-summoning girl also wore them. Why? And why did they get up so early? Harry was determined to find out.

.:l-*-l:.

After the first few classes, the new group of four friends marched down to lunch.

As soon as they sat down, Leo set a bowl on fire, and all the demigods dropped some food into it. Across the other tables, the other demigods were doing the same, even the emo kid.

Percy yet again had blue food, and was stuffing his face. He and Ron got along marvelously, and were having and animated conversation (argument) that only he and Ron could understand, something about which was best, Greek or wizards. Percy appeared to be winning.

The blonde Ravenclaw had been invited over to sit at the Gryffindor table, and she and Hermione were discussing architecture. Sometimes Harry wondered why Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor; she was the only one in the school who had gotten a time-turner to be able to attend all her classes.

"… And then she threw a blue plastic hairbrush at his face! Nico was there! He can prove it!" Percy pointed at the emo kid at the Slytherin table.

"Oh yeah? You think she's hot sauce? I threw a sledgehammer at Dirt-Face!" Leo shot back.

"Mr. D actually remembered my name!"

"Hera was my aunt!"

"Zeus _is _my uncle!"

"I built this warship!"

The argument was escalating quickly.

"I was praetor of New Rome!"

"Prove it!"

"You're seriously asking for proof? Well, this right here is proof!"

In one fluid motion, Percy ripped off his shirt. A lot of girls screamed, and a few actually fainted. The blonde Ravenclaw slapped her forehead. Percy pointed to something on his inner arm. Harry couldn't see it due to his position, but he saw a flash of dark as Percy put his shirt back on.

_A Dark Mark?..._


	6. Chapter 6

After lunch, Harry wandered out over to the lake to think about things. Every now and again, the giant squid surfaced, but other than that, he was completely alone.

Why would Percy have a Dark Mark? He appeared not to know anything about the wizarding world when they had first met. Although, it had been a few months since they had last seen each other. Anything could have happened in that time.

And it did appear to be burned into his skin, although it looked straighter, not curving like a snake. Maybe he was part of some weird cult where you needed to brand yourself to be initiated. Also, would a Death Eater have ripped off his shirt so willingly to prove that he was a "praetor" to "New Rome," whatever that was.

Maybe he-

"Hey, Harry." A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly, hoping it wasn't another person coming for an autograph the way Colin had.

"I always come to the water. It's a nice place to think. So, what's wrong?"

Harry turned and saw that it was none other than Percy Jackson.

"What's a praetor?" the words slipped out of Harry's mouth before he could stop them. Percy heaved dramatically down next to him and flung his arm over his forehead.

"Oh, the responsibilities! The burdens of having to impress and look dignified, while dealing with inner turmoil!"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I can't really explain, you probably will have to ask Superman or Annabeth. Hey, you wanna come swimming with me? " Percy said.

"There's a giant flesh-rendering squid in the lake, along with some grindylows, mermaids, and who knows what else."

"Sooo… yes?"

Harry slapped his forehead. It looked like Percy wasn't going to take no for an answer though. Besides, he was making a face like a kicked puppy.

"Alright, fine. But not too-" Harry was cut off when Percy stripped down to his underwear. _Wow._

Percy ran and jumped full tilt into the lake, and stayed down. Minutes passed, and Harry was starting to worry. Wouldn't he drown? Harry quickly shed his clothes, and ran to the edge of the lake to jump in.

Just as he was about to chase Percy, a pale hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him down. He couldn't see because the water was fogging up his glasses, and he had left his wand on the shore.

Deeper and deeper Harry was dragged down. The light grew dimmer and dimmer and Harry's lungs started to burn from a lack of oxygen.

And suddenly, the water vanished. Harry took in huge gasping lungfulls of air, grateful that he wasn't going to die today.

Harry stood up. Under his feet was dry sand, and some pathetic seaweed that had flopped to the side because of the lack of water.

"You can't see very well, can you?" a muffled voice asked. Water still clogged his ears. The same pale arm reached out and tapped his glasses. The water flew off them, and everything gained crystal clarity.

Harry was in some underwater bubble. It was like there was an invisible dome protecting them. And-

Percy was holding up the water, creating a bubble of air for Harry so he wouldn't drown.

"Sorry for the wait. The giant squid was particularly stubborn, but I eventually convinced him to shove off." Percy said. Harry was still busy taking in his surroundings, but when he heard Percy's voice, he whirled around. Percy's arms were hanging limply at his sides, but the dark splotch was partially visible. Harry decided that now would be the best time to ask about it. So he did.

Percy looked startled. He stretched his arm out and sideways to Harry so he could get a better look at it.

"This signifies that you're part of New Rome- officially. The stripes represent years of service, and the trident is for Neptune. They literally burn it into your flesh, and it is the one wound I'm never able to heal. See?"

Percy pulled out his sword. For a moment he thought Percy was going to attack him, but instead he plunged to sword into his own flesh, his leg, so that it was hanging by a thread. Blood poured everywhere, and some clumpy stuff too. Harry didn't know how he was going to get Percy to Madame Pomfrey in time, but Percy, whose face was already growing white, shook his head. He reached out a trembling hand into the water.

The moment it came into contact with the tip of his finger, the water began racing down his body to the wound site. Flesh and bone knit itself together before Harry's eyes. In a few moments, it was done, with not even a trace of a scar. Percy's face was red.

"That's how I take care of myself in battles. Never underestimate the power of a water bottle!"

If Percy was making jokes again, he was fine.

"C'mon." Harry said. "I've had enough excitement for one day. Let's go back to the castle."

"Let us proceed under the assumption that the fairy folk do exist and that I am not a gibbering moron."

"Alllllllright-y, then."

"I'm right here with you, darlin'. Unless you step on a landmine, in which case I'm way back in the  
>Operations Room."<p> 


End file.
